Are "core memories" a real thing?

Submitted by Admirable_Ad1947 t3_zfr27u in askscience

Hey guys! I was recently thinking about the movie Inside Out, and more specifically "core memories". If you don't know, in the movie core memories are basically super important memories that help define your sense of self. So if you really like basketball, your first game may be a "core memory". You also only have a very small handful of them (<10).

Now I'm not expecting a Pixar movie to have 100% accurate neurology, but are there any general concepts that are analogous to "core memories" in Inside Out? Are core memories, in any real sense, an actual thing?

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chazwomaq t1_izf504y wrote

No, not a thing. As you describe them, these "core" memories would be part of autobiographical memory (memory about oneself). But there is no limited number of particularly special autobiographical memories that define people typically. A possible exception is a highly traumatic event.

Another slightly similar concept is a "flashbulb" memory, where people remember a particular event very clearly (although not always accurately). Classic examples would be the moon landings, Challenger disaster, or 9/11/2001. There are often not autobiographical though, but they might be highly emotional.

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Maatix t1_izfgs0t wrote

It's more analogous to something you cherish than any real concept.

In real life, you may remember your first game of basketball, or you may not remember something of the sort until you win a big championship game. But there's no biological or emotional guarantee that you'll remember it any better than any other thing you do, even if you really like basketball.

In addition, you'll notice in real life that we're more likely to remember bad events, rather than good. While you might not remember the championship game or the resulting celebration quite as well, you will almost definitely remember the exact position you recall being in when the ball broke your nose during one game. Despite Inside Out's attempt to show "core memories" as a good thing, it's more likely that if they were to have a real life counterpart, it would be trauma rather than anything good, as things which are traumatic for the brain tend to induce more recollection of it.

So long story short: No, core memories aren't really a thing, although you could easily relate it to the way high emotion/trauma tends to induce greater recollections of events. It's one of the many ways movies like this tend to simplify concepts we don't fully understand yet to make a feel good story out of it.

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